Out of Conan Doyle's Mind
by Jet556
Summary: AU set in 1960 and based off of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World." It is off to Africa when Lieutenant Wendall Barrage returns to the Royal Ontario Museum with what he claims is the wing bone of a Pteranodon he had shot seven months prior. Accompanying him on his expedition is Professor Lee Ping, Sir Camillio Martinez and columnist Holger Holgaart.
1. Wondrous Fabrication

**Welcome everyone. This is AU is my little homage to Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World." I hope you all like it. Enjoy and review.**

 **Wondrous Fabrication**

The year was 1960 and the day July 13th. The place was the Royal Ontario Museum. It was here that Lee Ping, a renowned professor of paleontology, was giving a lecture on dinosaurs. In attendance were Sir Camillio Martinez, a hunter and womanizer trying to make himself the black Ernest Hemingway, and columnist Holger Holgaart, Danish by birth and his English was not too good thus he made all of his notes in Danish and had them translated into English by someone who's English was far better than his.

With a picture of an Iguanodon behind him, Lee gave his lecture. "Now, as we all now, these creatures moved like a kangaroo on two legs with the tail to the ground."

And that was when Lt. Wendell Barrage walked in. Though a military man by profession, Barrage had some knowledge of paleontology although he had never received a PHD. He had something in his arms, some sort of bone.

"Like a kangaroo?" scoffed Barrage, laughing loudly. "Have you ever seen one?"

"No one has ever seen one but with a body structure like that they must have, Lt. Barrage." Returned Lee.

"These things are quadrupedal animals." Stated Barrage.

"That is absurd!" exclaimed Lee. "By what right do you make such a claim?"

"I've seen them!"

"Like I said, absurd!"

"And I have something for you to identify" Barrage held up a bone from some kind of animal. "Will you do such a thing?"

Rolling his eyes, Lee took it and examined it. "It is the wing bone of a Pteranodon."

"It is seven months old and I shot the beast myself." Stated Barrage. Upon hearing that, Cam perked up with new interest. Now here was something new to hunt! "I shot it in Africa!"

"It is obviously a clever hoax!" scoffed Lee. "A wondrous fabrication!"

"Then come back with me, Professor Ping! If you are sure it is a hoax then there will be nothing to prove you wrong!" Barrage then turned to the audience. "Anyone care to come with us?"


	2. A Conundrum Uncloaked

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 **A Conundrum Uncloaked**

The next day Barrage, Lee, Cam and Holger all met at the Toronto airport. Lee said his goodbyes to his wife Tina and his sixteen-year old son Jonathan, Holger had said goodbye to his fiancée Kimmie McAdams at her home, Cam had said goodbye to his adoring fans but Barrage had said goodbye to no one.

Looking at the map he had made, Barrage thought about the conundrum he had uncloaked. For eighteen years he had been stuck at the rank of lieutenant. If this expedition was a success it would grant him a new rank, new prestige, new respect… Respect. Yes, that was all that he really wanted.

As they went up the plane steps, Cam and Holger talked. What of? Of Cam's exploits as a hunter!

"What a story this will make! You writing about it for your paper and me writing about it for my fans." Said Cam. "What a great tale it will make about shooting tigers in Africa!"

"There no tigers in Africa." Stated Holger.

"I know." Replied Cam. "But I don't think my fans are the smartest people so what they don't know won't hurt them."

"May cause angry mobs come after Cam when learn truth." Commented Holger.

Taking a seat next to Barrage, Lee looked at the map in his hands. He was skeptical but he just had to know. "Where exactly are we going?"

"The Congo." Stated Barrage.


	3. Godforsaken Outpost

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 **Godforsaken Outpost**

Once in the Congo, the group of four made their way to a remote outpost. So remote it could be called godforsaken. Cam was quite unhappy to be surrounded by the natives. It had only been the 30th of the month prior that the Democratic Republic of the Congo had become independent of Belgium and it had been Joseph Kasa-Vubu who had become the first president. Better it had been someone young like Mobutu Sese Seko. Kas-Vubu was fifty while Mobutu was thirty the latter had more life to live governing than the former. To Cam, any native of the Congo he saw was an idiot who voted for the wrong man. Some logic that made!

"Where is the guide of ours, Barrage?" asked Lee. "Where is this Reverend Lynch Webber?"

A girl with a unibrow, about Holger's age, came walking up to them. "My uncle will be here shortly." She was the most beautiful woman Holger had ever seen but he was engaged to Kimmie McAdams yet still she was beautiful. As for Cam, a womanizer but not to the extent of someone such as Casanova or Don Juan, he was completely turned off by the unibrow. He may have been attracted to women of both European and African ancestry but the unibrow made him feel like he was at a sideshow.

"Ah yes Professor Ping, Sir Martinez, Mr. Holgaart, allow me to introduce you to Greta Von Hoffman." Said Barrage.

"So nice to see you again, Lt. How is the glass eye?" asked Greta.

"It is fine." Replied Barrage.

"I have heard of Sir Camillio's reputation and I must say that I don't think highly of people who hunt for sport."

"Why not?" asked Cam.

"I think it is a waste." Replied Greta.

"Greta is right." Agreed Holger. "Hunting for sport is waste."

"Don't you have writings to mail?" asked Cam, turning to Holger.

"Holger no know how to mail them from outpost." Greta could only laugh a bit as she offered to send Holger's writings back. It was around this point that Reverend Lynch Webber arrived on the scene, being welcomed by the natives even more than the group of explorers had. Only natural that someone more well known to the locals would be more welcomed by them than a group of four strangers.


	4. Animated Argumentation

**Welcome back everyone. I am well aware a Christian reverend would not say "Allah" but you'll notice that I'm using "Beelzebub" instead of the Devil, it is an artistic choice of mine as I find a title to be something one should not be referred to as. They should be referred to by a name. Enjoy and review.**

 **Animated Argumentation**

Lynch Webber was old, bald but aged to a point that he looked quite odd. He looked like a young man but his baldness made it so people could not quite interpret his age. However the man was a reverend, a priest, and at this time was quite intolerable to many things, one such thing being the concept of evolution and returning to that plateau was an idea he did not like. Thus did he argue with Lt. Barrage!

"That place is the dominion of Beelzebub!" objected Lynch. "You would seek to return to there? For what reason?"

"To prove something to Prof. Ping!" returned Barrage. "To prove that I am not a charlatan!"

"And to do that you must return to Beelzebub's dominion?"

"Enough with that talk of yours! There is nothing demonic about that place or what lives there!"

"Those beasts do not have a place on Allah's green earth!"

"Allah does not care if they are alive or if they dead! He has let the beasts live there since the dawn of time!"

"Then that was his mistake!"

"Mistake?" asked Barrage, a smile upon his face. "I thought Allah does not make mistakes."

"H-He does not!"

"And yet you said he has made one!" Barrage's comment caused Lynch to go silent and stare down at the outpost's floor in defeat. "You will bring us to the plateau, Reverend Webber, and you will be quiet about it. I won't be hearing of your religious criticism. Is that understood?" Lynch nodded. "Now, get some sleep. We will all need it for when we began our trek tomorrow."

Barrage left the room they were in and thus Lynch was alone. He thought about when he been called Beelzebub and thought about how great it would have been to truly have that power.


	5. Into the Unknown

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 **Into the Unknown**

In his office at home, Basil Hagen translated what Holger had sent him. His English was not too good but thankfully his Danish was impeccable.

The things Holger had written about. Leopards, gorillas, snakes… Holger was not the sort of person suited for being out in the field. Holger was not the sort of person suited for going into the unknown. Holger had once gotten lost in his own broom closet and so did Basil worry.

"Basil?" came a feminine voice. "Where are you, darling?" It was his wife, Venus.

"In the office, Venus." Replied Basil, still translating Holger's writings.

Venus, a beautiful red-haired woman with brown skin, came walking in. "Are you translating Holger's writings?"

"Well, I am certainly not writing the next Ra of Mu story." Said Basil, looking up to her. "What is it? Has your water broke?"

"That won't be for a few more months." Stated Venus. "No, rather it has to do with Holger."

"I know he's odd, Venus but he's an old friend. So can you please tolerate his oddness for me?"

"It has nothing to do with his oddness but I saw Holger's fiancée Kimmie McAdams out on a date with Biffy Goldstein."


	6. Warning Signs

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 **Warning Signs**

The expedition found there terrain to be more dangerous than it had previously been. There were less fruit trees as well and less game animals too. These were the warning signs that continuing on this expedition would be dangerous.

"We are almost there." Assured Barrage.

"Almost where?" asked Lee. "To this mythical plateau of yours or almost to starvation?"

"The plateau is real!" countered Barrage. "And soon we shall find plenty of fruit trees and game animals to feed our empty stomachs!"

"What? Will be feasting upon the flesh of Iguanodon? How about a Hypsilophodon? Are there any prehistoric mammals there? Maybe we will be eating roasted Entelodn!" While Barrage and Lee argued, Holger just wrote. Upon noticing that Holger was writing, Lee turned in alarm. "No, don't write that part!"

"Holger write love letter." He was attempting to write a love letter to Kimmie but in truth he was becoming close to Greta and she to him. This was his attempt to remind himself he had a fiancée.

"Oh, then carry on." Said Lee. "Where are the rest?"

"Lynch is emptying his bladder and the other two are searching for food be it fruit or something on legs." Replied Barrage.

"Barrage is we ever find this so-called plateau of yours I will kiss you straight on the mouth." Said Lee in an annoyed manner. "No, wait. If we ever find this plateau I'll see to it you get your own wing in the museum!"

"That shall be a victory of its own, Prof. Ping." Replied Barrage. "One that I shall enjoy every time I walk into it!"


	7. The Highland

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 **The Highland**

Eventually the explorers came to the highland, the plateau to which Barrage had led them with Reverend Webber. In the sky flew reptiles, most likely never going too far from the land where their nests lay. Between them was gap and across it a rope attached to two stakes.

"Ah… Still here! Excellent!" exclaimed Barrage walking over to the rope and climbing it to get to the other side.

"Barrage, I owe you an apology!" called Lee.

"Save it for when we at both on the other side, Professor!"

Lee then climbed over. The professor was followed by Cam, then Greta and finally, Holger! Yet when it was Lynch's turn he merely stood there with an unimpressed look on his face.

"What are you waiting for, uncle?" asked Greta. "Get on over here!"

Drawing a machete Lynch cut the rope. After doing this he then placed the machete on the ground and walked away. He would not go into that place again.


	8. Trapped

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 **Trapped**

Lynch's sudden abandonment of them came at quite a shock. Greta never would have expected it but it was Lee who was now in a state of panic.

"Oh, this is just terrific!" exclaimed the professor. "Our guide abandoned us and left us trapped here on this plateau where various prehistoric monstrosities dwell!"

"Relax, we can get out of this." Assured Barrage. "Remember, I'm an army lieutenant and we have Martinez here, a big-game hunter. We can get out of this and we will but first let us explore! There are Allosaurus, Pteranodon, Hypsilophodon, Iguanodon… I can finally prove that Iguanodon do not hop around like a kangaroo."

"Alright then." Said Lee. "Show me! Holger, come on! We will need someone to write about this!"

"Also, make sure you make it clear that Lynch did not abandon us out of some malicious intentions." Commented Barrage, speaking to Holger. "Let it be known he only abandoned us because he considers this place a creation of Beelzebub."

Holger nodded in both understanding and agreement. Lynch was not what a writer of fiction would call a villain rather he was the sort of person that a writer of fiction would call an anti-villain. What he had done was out of religious fear and going into a place he considered a creation of Beelzebub a second time would probably cause him to have a mental breakdown.

The group went in search of the Iguanodon. Having been here before, Barrage knew the ways of the highland. He knew where the Iguanodon would be. Thus they did see Iguanodon that day and wasn't Lee in shock.

They were not creatures that moved like a kangaroo on two legs and kept their tails to the ground. Far from it! There were quadrupedal animals.

"T-They don't move like kangaroos…" said Lee. "How could we have been so wrong?"

"I'd prefer did." Said Cam. "No, challenge in hunting these things."

As if in answer for Cam's search for a challenge, a great roar rang out. The Iguanodon heard it and immediately began to move away from their grazing area in alarm.

"What was that?" asked Greta.

"Epanterias." Stated Barrage. "Makes its cousin the Allosaurus look like a sock-puppet."


	9. Ape or Man?

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 **Ape or Man?**

While Barrage and Lee set up a camp, Cam had gone off in search of his quarry with Holger and Greta following him. Why were they following him? To talk him out of it and to talk him into helping set up the camp!

Epanterias. There would be no one else but him capable of hunting such a quarry. Cam would go down into history as the greatest hunter who ever lived! The thrill of the hunt was his, the greatest sport in all the world happen with the greatest quarry of all, blood and sweat was the stuff of life and in the end the blood of the Epanterias would be flowing from a gunshot wound!

Cam didn't even have any idea what an Epanterias looked like. He was hunting a creature that he did not even know the appearance of. That was some fine plan right there.

While Holger and Greta babbled, Cam could not help but feel like he was being watched. Not by something reptilian but by something almost human. Turning his head, Cam caught a glimpse of something that was more than an ape but less than a human.

"Will you two be quiet?" asked Cam in a hushed tone.

"The Epanterias?" asked Greta.

"Not unless Epanterias can turn into some sort of ape-man." Replied Cam, walking over to a group of trees where he had seen the thing that had been watching. There were tracks and they certainly looked human but there was just something about that face.

As Holger looked around, what could best be described as an ape's face on a human's body appeared out of the brush. Screaming in horror, Holger fell back causing Cam to turn and hold his gun up and would have shot at the creature but he paused. Would the killing of this thing qualify as murder? It couldn't qualify as murder since there was no law out here but at the same time this thing had done nothing to warrant being killed. However, this thing seemed to be as much ape as it was man so it could qualify as murder as at the same time not being murder?

"What that?" asked Holger.

"Ape… Man… Maybe a bit of both." Said Cam. "Which just begs the question of what do I do?"


	10. Death by Fire

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 **Death by Fire**

The creature that Cam, Holger and Greta had encountered was just one of many. In fact a whole group had captured Lee and Barrage during their meeting with the lone creature. Lee and Barrage had both recognized the creatures as Homo Erectus, the last part of the human evolution that could have been called an "Ape-Man", the one that came after homo Habilis which started using stone tools and the one that both started speaking some form of language and to use fire.

While at this point in the evolutionary line, the Erectus was more man than ape it was an ape-man nonetheless. Their skin, hair and eyes made them look like they could be the ancestor of any type of ethnicity but their face was unmistakably ape-like.

To a clearing in a maze of rock were Lee and Barrage brought to. There were other prisoners too but they did not seem to come from the outside world. Their clothing seemed to be a combination of the Europeans and the African tribes, the Europeans of a few centuries prior.

"Who do you think they are?" asked Lee.

"If I were to guess, descendants of English explorers who got trapped in this plateau and joined the native population." Replied Barrage.

"And what do you think the Erectus are going to do with us?"

Not far from the prisoners was a pit. In that pit was a roaring fire. Two of the Erectus grabbed one of the native prisoners and dragged them to the pit and quite unceremoniously threw the prisoner into the fire.

"That." Said Barrage. "I think the Erectus are going to do that to us, Lee."


	11. Tracking

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 **Tracking**

When Cam, Holger and Greta retuned to their camp they found it in a mess. There had been an attack or a struggle. From the tracks it seemed like the ape-men had captured Lee and Barrage.

So it was that they went out in search for their companions. Cam gave Holger and Greta rifles and the tracking of the ape-men began.

They were hardly what one would call hard to track, the ape-men. In fact they were quite easy. They seemed to have no idea about how to avoid being tracked, sticking to the dirt paths instead of walking upon stone or through water. Of course, if there were a great enough force of them they probably wouldn't need to worry about being tracked. They could probably just beat any pursuers to death.

It was during their pursuit that they met a strange group of people. They looked like a combination of 17th century English men and the native tribes of this part of Africa. From the path they were going on, it seemed they were in the pursuit of the ape-men as well.

They spoke English and so they had allies in their rescue.


	12. The Rescue

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 **The Rescue**

When Cam, Holger and Greta came into the Homo Erectus' lair with the natives a great battle broke out. An ordinarily savage battle that would have lasted much longer ended up being a quick one thanks to Cam's skills with a gun.

The Homo Erectus suffered many casualties. In fact, Cam was fully intent on wiping them from the face of the earth. He would have too had Barrage not stepped in.

"Sir Camillio, they must be preserved! What you are about to do is the work of a savage!"

"They are the savages here! Not me!" objected Cam. "All savages must die!"

"What they are doing is out of a religious motive." Stated Barrage. "I have seen them dance, raising their hands to the sun after they have thrown someone into the fire. Your motive is one of pure blood lust. You are savage not them. Would you kill yourself because you are a savage?"

Cam paused and lowered his gun. Barrage had spoken the truth. Just because their ways were not his ways did that mean they were more or less than him? The only people in all of history that did not qualify as savages were the Ancient Egyptians, the Scythians, the Gaels, the Picts, the Britons, the Gauls, the Norsemen, the Franks, the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, the people of Switzerland, the people of Canada! The descendants on those ancient peoples were the most civilized in all of the world, all the world tried to follow their example and to be the pillars of virtue they were but alas they could not be for those were people immune to sin and all who were not those people were not immune to sin.

Or at least, that was what Cam believed. Cam was a citizen of Canada and thus civilized but he had been born in Cuba and thus in his mind a savage. But if he was born in savage Cuba and a citizen of civilized Canada then which was he? Was he the savage he had been born or had he become a civilized person? Was he either or could he have possibly been both? Or was it possible for him to be both and neither?

Cam was a history buff and had an unfortunate tendency to put those he admired on a pedestal. Cam had only fully realized one of his own flaws.

"We should take them captive." Stated Cam. "Take them captive is what we shall do."


	13. The Village

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 **The Village**

The Homo Erectus were put in a wooden cage in the village of the natives. The chief was happy to have it that way as it meant they could keep a closer eye on their age-old enemy.

"It is fascinating." Commented Lee to Barrage once they had spoken with the chief. "English explorers getting trapped here and marrying into the native population resulting in a tribe that is in some ways more advanced than those outside of this lost world but not as advanced as those who have advanced past the tribal stage. My brother has a similar theory involving the Vikings and the American Indians but he has never been able to prove it. And look!" Lee pointed at their close proximity to the natural wall that surrounded this lost world. "There is a cave not far, it might just be our way out."

"That's great but I'm not leaving without live proof." Said Barrage.

"Good lord, not one of the Erectus!"

"Of course not! I have something fair smaller."

"What precisely?"

"A Pteranodon."

"You call that smaller?" asked Lee. "Those things are six feet long!"

"Not if I get an egg. I'll call the species Pteranodon Pingsis."

"Oh, I like that!" commented Lee. "Having a species named after myself! That is sure to keep me fears of being an obscure paleontologist down."

"Why am I only hearing about these fears now?" asked Barrage.

"There was never a reason to bring them up." Lee looked over at Holger and Greta. "They seem to be enjoying each other's company. You don't suppose he remembers he's engaged do you?"

"Maybe his fiancée is a real piece of work." Suggested Barrage.

"And look over there!" Lee pointed at Cam talking with the chief's daughter, Brandy. "Do you think he'll just give up the outside world to be with her?"

"I don't know." Said Barrage. "I cannot answer that."


	14. A Death in the Family

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 **A Death in the Family**

Weeks passed. Lee had discovered a tunnel that lead to a blocked exit. Cam and Brandy had married. Holger had named a lake after his fiancée Kimmie. Barrage had acquired a Pteranodon egg. Much happiness was going on.

For the Homo Erectus however there was much sadness. One of the captive ape-men had been an infant and it had died. They buried the dead infant in their prison and soon came the howling from the Erectus.

The natives wanted to kill the Erectus but Barrage was stern about protecting them. Between an angry mob and the wooden cage did Barrage stand and it was between murderous madness and imprisoned mourners that the good lieutenant make his stand.

"I will not get out of the way! It is barbaric to slay mourners!"

"They are not like us! You must be human to mourn and they do not qualify!" It didn't matter if you were white, it didn't matter if you were black, it didn't matter if you were considered civilized, it didn't mater if you were considered barbaric. Such frames of thought were arrogant and the marriage of seventeenth century British explorers with tribal Africans had enhanced that frame of thought tenfold! To the British explorers the Homo Erectus had not qualified as human and to the tribal Africans they did not qualify as human. Their descendants had come to believe their ancestors, British and African, were gods and that the Homo Erectus were monsters. In truth, the natives like all human beings were more than apes but less than angels while the Homo Erectus were more than apes but less than humans but they were human in their own ways.

"They are human." Stated Barrage. "They are merely not as we are."

"Barrage, you can't hold them off! They are thirty and you are one!" exclaimed Cam. "Find a way to shut them up or my wife's people with massacre them!"

"They are your people as well, Sir Camillio." Stated Barrage. "Do not put yourself so high because you come from the outside world."

A roar then came to the ears of all in the village. The explorers had heard the roar before as had the inhabitants of that lost world.

It was the Epanterias.

The villain true villain of this tale had arrived.


	15. The Epanterias

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 **The Epanterias**

The cries of the Homo Erectus had drawn the Epanterias to the native village. Immediately, all warriors ran to do battle with the beast. The English men these tribes-people were descended from had been of the mid-seventeenth century. The flintlocks had not survived the centuries but the bardiches, Carracks black swords and the like had survived. So with weapons based off of the English soldiery and African tribes, these natives did fight against this terrible lizard.

It was like hitting a battleship with a slingshot.

The Epanterias quickly sent the natives running. It caused much havoc in the village, destroying many buildings and ultimately releasing the Homo Erectus who had covered themselves in filth to hide their scent thus leaving them unharmed.

And then Cam stepped in. With his rifle, a great deal stronger than the firearms of the 17th century that were lost to his wife's people, he fired at the Epanterias and the bullet went through its skull like a cherry pit could go through a human eye.

Like a hero out of myth, Sir Camillio Martinez had slain the Epanterias.

Alas, one of the casualties was the chief: Brandy's father. Thus it was that all but Brandy blamed the outsiders for their chief's death. To prevent being flayed alive or burned at the stake, for 17th century English soldiery and African tribes are both noble and savage in their own ways and thus the combining of the two combined their nobility and savagery, the explorers were forced to flee with Brandy being forced to abandon her people and Cam forced to fire at her people.

As the explorers retreated and Cam fired, the great hunter found himself attack and a knife enter his right side. Falling to the ground he saw one of the Homo Erectus. As the ape-man gave a victory cry, the wounded knight rose his rifle and killed his attacker.

"Go on without me!" Cam cried. "I will hold them off!"

Brandy knelt beside her husband as her tribe came ever closer and closer. Was this to be their end?

The explorers escaped, Lee having made gunpowder to destroy the rocks blocking the tunnel. What they found waiting for them was someone they thought they'd never see again.


	16. Beelzebub

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 **Beelzebub**

Standing before them they found Lynch Webber with a gun in hand. He did not look happy to see them.

"So, you found a way out from the entrance that I sealed up." He said. "That is Beelzebub's world and I cannot allow you to leave the world of those savages who called me 'Beelzebub.'"

"Uncle, please listen to reason!" begged Greta.

"Reason?" asked Lynch. "My dear niece, you and the rest here would dare tell the world that Beelzebub's domain is right here on earth!" He pointed the gun at Greta without any hesitation. "Do not think I won't shoot you because you are my sister's daughter."

Barrage quickly dashed at Lynch and a struggle began between the two. The struggle went on for five minutes until Lynch was finally shot dead by Holger.

"So dies Beelzebub." Commented Lee.

Holger then turned to Greta. "Holger sorry for killing Uncle Lynch."

Greta merely shook her head in response. "There is no need for that. He was not my uncle anymore. He was someone and something else."

"Let us bury him." Said Barrage. "Then let us be on our way."


	17. Return to Canada

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 **Return to Canada**

The expedition returned to Canada with Greta joining them. There was nothing left for her in Afro-Eurasia. The only place she could go now was to where he companions were going.

The return of Lee Ping and Wendell Barrage was met with great rejoicing. The loss of Camillio Martinez was met with great sorrow. And Holger? He had to part from Greta to see his fiancée Kimmie McAdams.

So he left the crowd welcoming back the returning heroes to go to Kimmie's apartment. There he met Biffy Goldstein, her fiancé.

"F-Fiance?" asked Holger stuttering. "B-But Holger named a lake for Kimmie!"

"A lake!" exclaimed Biffy. "Oh, my! How grand!" In all honesty, Biffy was a few decades behind in speech patterns. He seemed more like 1910's British gentleman than 1960's Canadian gentleman.

"I am sorry, Holger." Said Kimmie. "But as they say absence makes the heart go yonder. Surely there is someone you met on the expedition."

There was. Someone who made Holger want to scream out like a tiger in a trap. Someone who made Holger want to cry like the summer rains. Someone who made Holger's heart beat as a heart can only beat when one is in love.

That someone was Greta but did she love him as he loved her? Alas, Holger did not know.

What was he to say? Holger was so unsure.

"Well, old bean?" asked Biffy. "Surely, you must have met someone!"

"Holger did but at same time Holger don't know."


	18. The Unveiling of the Pteranodon

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 **The Unveiling of the Pteranodon**

It was in the lecture hall that this story began that the unveiling of the pteranodon was to happen. All over the city of Toronto posters had been put up showing cavemen fighting dinosaurs with the words "Lt. Barrage's Lost World."

The lecture theatre itself was packed. Everyone was in attendance, and that included Biffy and Kimmie. Why? Wasn't that a good question. Greta was there too and as Holger and Barrage carried the crate onto the stage, Holger spoke to Barrage.

"Holger loves her."

"What?" asked Barrage. "Who?"

"Greta. Does Barrage think Greta loves Holger?"

"Well, how should I know?" asked Barrage. "Ask her once this is done!" Holger walked off the stage and soon Barrage was alone on the stage with the crate. "On July 13th, many of you called me a cheat! Thus I returned to the lost world I discovered along with Professor Lee Ping, columnist Holger Holgaart whose stories you have read in the papers and Sir Camillio Martinez who sadly died on our journey as you know, or as I may quote Holger's writings 'Sir Camillio Martinez died as he lived: a man of action, he shall never be forgotten.'" Hearing this only caused Holger to turn over to his translator Basil Hagen who just shrugged in response while mouthing 'People liked it.' "But now, I present to you Pteranodon Pingsis." Barrage opened the crate and taking some sardines out of his pocket, lured a juvenile Pteranodon out of the crate. There were awestruck sounds but soon the photographers caused everything to go wrong. Upon taking pictures, the frightened Pteranodon started flying about causing Barrage to chase after it until it ended up near an open window. "Come here, come have a nice tasty fishy."

Lee only turned to Holger with a look of horror on his face. "We have got to stop this! If we don't it will be over for all of them! The natives, the Erectus, every creature in that plateau! We must protect it from the evils of modern pirates: capitalists and profiteers and the like." Holger nodded in agreement and as soon as the Pteranodon flew out the window, leaving Barrage with an angry look on his face Lee began speaking quite loudly. "A delightful bluff, Lieutenant! A Palm-nut vulture! Very good!"

"Yes, yes! Very good!" chimed in Holger. "Very beautiful vulture!"

Walking over to them, Barrage grabbed Lee and Holger by the shirts and pulled them close to him. "What are you two doing? Everything we strived for just flew out the window and you are calling it a vulture?"

"Barrage, listen tor reason!" pleaded Lee. "If they know that place is real the beauty and danger will cease to exist! We are protecting it!"

Barrage pushed Lee and Holger away, Lee's pleas falling on deaf ears. "That's enough. I'll talk to all these reporters and they will know the truth!" But it was as the flashes of the cameras hit his eyes that Barrage saw once more the life of that lost world and knew that if it's location was revealed then the plateau and its inhabitants would be exploited. "Gentlemen, the truth is, there is no lost world. It was just a Palm-nut vulture."

"But what about what we read in the papers?" asked a reporter.

"Excerpts of Holger's new novel. Is there publisher in house?"

Biffy only stood up clapping. "That was wonderful, lieutenant! I absolutely loved it!"

As Greta left the lecture theatre, Holger ran after her calling her name. It was there that he confessed his love for her and she for him. As Barrage walked past them, looking down as he thought about the events of that night knowing he had done good but felt like he had done evil.

"Lt.!" exclaimed Holger. "Greta loves Holger!"

"Congratulations." Said Barrage.

"Would you like to join us to join you on your next adventure?" asked Greta.

A bit more cheerfully, Barrage gave his response. "I'll keep in touch."


	19. Our Ending

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **Our Ending**

To end this story without revealing Cam's fate would be an unhappy way to end this. He did not die, he lived and became chief of the tribe in that lost world. He and Brandy would remain together for many years until death did they part.

Despite what they had to do; Lee, Barrage and Holger did get on with their lives. They had good careers and their "hoax" was ultimately forgotten when the next big one came around. Holger and Greta were happy together and Holger's so-called book did indeed get published under the title "The Plateau" and become a best seller with it receiving a film adaptation in 1992 with the setting shifted to 1934, Mongolia.

However this ending is at most a bittersweet one. While Cam did indeed survive, his friends from the expedition did not know and thus to all the world Sir Camillio Martinez had died in 1960.

 **The End**


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